Bouncing Back After Pre-Reqs?

[Algophiliac]

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Has anyone managed to absolutely crush the MCAT after doing poorly in intro level biology, chemistry, physics, or organic chemistry? If so, how did you manage it?

 

[unDRdog]

Even if no one has...be the first. Yeah ppl have bounced back after sucking it up in undergrad. Got a buddy of mine with a 2.9 sgpa and a 3.0 cum and is sitting in med school right now as an M2 thanks to his 35. Just saying
Good luck man

 

[Algophiliac]

Even if no one has...be the first. Yeah ppl have bounced back after sucking it up in undergrad. Got a buddy of mine with a 2.9 sgpa and a 3.0 cum and is sitting in med school right now as an M2 thanks to his 35. Just saying
Good luck man

It's just that I'm only now realizing how much effort is actually required to ace the pre-req tests. I came into these classes with the assumption that having taken the AP credits and not claimed them, this was going to be a piece of cake...but I was entirely wrong and am now paying for it with what will most likely be a horrible first semester freshman GPA. 🙁 I would just like to know that I haven't completely screwed myself over for the MCAT and/or medical school.

How did your friend manage to bounce back to that MCAT score after a sub-3.0 science GPA?

 

[loveoforganic]

Bio 1/2: C/B-
Ch 1/2: C/B

Other grades were good. Just have to put in more time if you didn't learn it the first time through.

 

[Algophiliac]

Bio 1/2: C/B-
Ch 1/2: C/B

Other grades were good. Just have to put in more time if you didn't learn it the first time through.

Would you recommend using more in-depth textbooks/study materials to study for the MCAT in that case, or will simply using EK or Kaplan suffice? Also, in terms of time, how much earlier should I begin studying than the usual 3-month or so period of studying? I ask this, because I feel as though I personally would need much more time to solidify this material--cramming, for me, is anywhere from an hour to a week in advance of a test--and that's a regular college test! Not to mention that I obviously have not internalized the material very well, so perhaps I should start as far as 6 months in advance, and slowly up my study hours until the MCAT test date?

 

[Augustus]

Has anyone managed to absolutely crush the MCAT after doing poorly in intro level biology, chemistry, physics, or organic chemistry? If so, how did you manage it?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say they studied their ass off, just like anybody who does well on the MCAT. There isn't a magical secret. You're being tested on 8 semesters of science, your verbal abilities, and critical reasoning skills.

Plus, a lot depends on where you take your prereqs.

For instance, I took Organic I at a private school (where I got my undergrad) and earned a C-. The next semester I took Organic II at the state school (for scheduling reasons), put in the same amount of effort and got an A. My point is some students get A's and have the high GPA but at the end of the day its very possible that you know more than them as you took the class with a more challenging instructor.

Elevate your game and don't quit ever quit something because you got off to a tough start.

 

[Augustus]

Would you recommend using more in-depth textbooks/study materials to study for the MCAT in that case, or will simply using EK or Kaplan suffice? Also, in terms of time, how much earlier should I begin studying than the usual 3-month or so period of studying? I ask this, because I feel as though I personally would need much more time to solidify this material--cramming, for me, is anywhere from an hour to a week in advance of a test--and that's a regular college test! Not to mention that I obviously have not internalized the material very well, so perhaps I should start as far as 6 months in advance, and slowly up my study hours until the MCAT test date?

I'm using the Princeton Review books but they can be hard to find. They are quite in-depth at covering all of the material needed for the MCAT.

Start studying when you have time to commit to it and don't take the exam until you're ready (i.e. practice test scores are looking really good) even if that takes 2 years.

 

[ezsanche]

It is definitely doable. But you are going to have put more time and effort into your prep.

 

[loveoforganic]

Would you recommend using more in-depth textbooks/study materials to study for the MCAT in that case, or will simply using EK or Kaplan suffice? Also, in terms of time, how much earlier should I begin studying than the usual 3-month or so period of studying? I ask this, because I feel as though I personally would need much more time to solidify this material--cramming, for me, is anywhere from an hour to a week in advance of a test--and that's a regular college test! Not to mention that I obviously have not internalized the material very well, so perhaps I should start as far as 6 months in advance, and slowly up my study hours until the MCAT test date?

I followed SN2ed's schedule. EK for bio seemed like it wasn't enough at first, but after eventually reading it something like 6 times, it was more than adequate.